Transcript Document 7340951

Animal Hoarding
Steve Crawford
NH State Veterinarian
Road Map
What is animal hoarding?
Role of the NHDAMF
Role of the health officer
RSA 644:8 and RSA 436:8
RSA 437
RSA 466:6
RSA 436:99-109
How to intervene?
Our Constituents
1.32 million
humans
474,500
households
The Animals They Own
(Estimates)
 263,253 dogs
 285,910 cats
 58,420 pet birds
 25,000+ horses
 1.67 Million poultry
in 34,000 flocks
 35,481 cattle
 2,792 pigs
 7,671 sheep
 3,888 goats
 1,500 deer, elk,
bison
 2,100+ camelids
Animal Hoarding
• First described in 1981
• First defined in literature in 1999
• The following criteria are used*:
– More than the typical number of companion animals
– Inability to provide even minimal standards of
nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, with
this neglect often resulting in starvation, illness and
death
– Denial of the inability to provide this minimum care
and the impact of that failure on the animals, the
household and human occupants of the dwelling
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/index.html
Animal Hoarding is…
 …multifactorial. It requires the involvement of many disciplines to
adequately address.
 …about satisfying a human need to accumulate animals and control
them.
 …repeating. Without appropriate post-intervention treatment,
recidivism approaches 100%.
 …a community problem that can be costly for municipalities to
resolve.
 …often associated with other issues such elder abuse, child abuse,
and self-neglect.
 …a public health concern. Air quality, rodent and insect infestation,
zoonotic disease, generally unsanitary conditions, etc.
Animal Hoarding is not…
• …simply owning a lot of animals.
Providing adequate care or trying to do so
indicate an awareness of the situation that
is not present in hoarding cases.
• …easily addressed.
• …usually solved by prosecution, alone.
NHDAMF Core Missions
 Control and eradication of contagious and infectious
diseases in domestic animals and poultry.
 Emergency preparedness and response.
 Food safety
 Education – farmers, animal owners, general public,
interest groups, media, anyone who will listen
 Advisory to Commissioner, Governor, other elected
officials
Additional tasks by statute
License and inspect all pet shops and
shelters.
Assist in investigation of animal welfare
and abuse complaints.
APCP – state spay / neuter program
Oversee administrator of Board of
Veterinary Medicine
NHVDL
Work with other state agencies
Wolf hybrid fencing
Other stuff
Budget
Rulemaking (RSA 541)
RSA 91-A
Administrative hearing process
Cooperative agreements and funding
Public interaction – e-mail, phone
We are not…
Makers of the law.
Intended to provide free veterinary advice
to animal owners.
Civics teachers.
Health Officer’s role
 Home rule.
 What is a safe dwelling? Local regulations.
 Animal hoarding often has behavioral, mental,
and public health components in the same case.
 The first sign may be the individual’s health.
 Accumulation of feces or other debris may be
the first external sign to the community.
 http://www.nh.gov/agric/divisions/markets/documents/
bmp.pdf
RSA 644:8

intent v. negligence
 ""cruelty'' shall include, but not be limited to, acts or omissions
injurious or detrimental to the health, safety or welfare of any
animal, including the abandoning of any animal without proper
provision for its care, sustenance, protection or shelter.
 ""shelter'' or ""necessary shelter'' for dogs shall mean any
natural or artificial area which provides protection from the
direct sunlight and adequate air circulation when that sunlight
is likely to cause heat exhaustion of a dog tied or caged
outside. Shelter from the weather shall allow the dog to remain
clean and dry. Shelter shall be structurally sound and have an
area within to afford the dog the ability to stand up, turn around
and lie down, and be of proportionate size as to allow the
natural body heat of the dog to be retained.
644:8
 Courts shall give cases in which animals have been confiscated by an arresting
officer priority on the court calendar. The costs, if any, incurred in boarding
and treating the animal, pending disposition of the case, and in disposing of
the animal, upon a conviction of said person for cruelty to animals, shall be
borne by the person so convicted.
 In addition, the court may prohibit any person convicted of animal cruelty from
having future ownership or custody of other animals for any period of time the
court deems reasonable or impose any other reasonable restrictions on the
person's future ownership or custody of animals as necessary for the
protection of the animals.
 If a person convicted of cruelty to animals appeals the conviction and any
confiscated animal remains in the custody of the arresting officer or the
officer's designee pending disposition of the appeal, in order for the appellant
to maintain a future interest in the animal, the trial court may require the
appellant to post a bond or other security in an amount not exceeding $2,000
for each animal in custody for costs expected to be incurred for the board and
care of the animal during the appeal. If the conviction is affirmed on appeal, the
costs incurred for the board and care of the animal shall be paid to the
custodian from the posted security and the balance, if any, returned to the
person who posted it.
644:8
• Except as provided in subparagraphs (b) and (c) any
appropriate law enforcement officer, animal control officer, or
officer of a duly licensed humane society may take into
temporary protective custody any animal when there is
probable cause to believe that it has been or is being abused or
neglected in violation of paragraphs III or III-a when there is a
clear and imminent danger to the animal's health or life and
there is not sufficient time to obtain a court order.
• For purposes of subparagraph (a) the investigating officer for
livestock, as defined in RSA 427:38, III, shall be accompanied
by a veterinarian licensed under RSA 332-B or the state
veterinarian who shall set the probable cause criteria for taking
the animal or animals.
RSA 436:8
• Complaints under RSA 644:8, 644:8-a, 644:8-aa
and any other law pertaining to the abuse of
domestic animals, as defined under RSA 436:1,
shall initially be filed with the local law
enforcement agency, animal control officer, state
police, or sheriff which has jurisdiction over
where the animal is located or kept. At the
request of the local law enforcement agency,
animal control officer, state police, or sheriff, the
state veterinarian shall assist in a secondary
capacity in enforcing the provisions of and
investigating said complaints.
RSA 437
Requires licensure of any entity in the
business of transferring ownership of
household pets.
Exempts those licensed under RSA 466:6.
Commercial kennels and ‘in home’
rescues.
Inspection and facility requirements in
statute and rule.
RSA 466:6
 The owner or keeper of 5 or more dogs shall annually by
April 30 pay the required fee and obtain a license
authorizing the owner or keeper to keep the dogs upon
the premises described in the license, or off the
premises while under such owner's or keeper's control.
Such owner or keeper shall not be required to obtain a
""commercial kennel'' license under RSA 466:4, III
unless such person has a commercial kennel as defined
under RSA 466:4, III.
 No town clerk shall refuse to issue a group license to an
owner or keeper who has complied with the
requirements of this subdivision.
Commercial kennels
 Confusion?
 RSA 466:4 and RSA 437:2
 "commercial kennel'' means the establishment or
domicile of any person who sells dogs at wholesale or
retail; and, if retail, who sells or transfers 10 or more
litters per year, or sells or transfers 50 or more
puppies per year; or who derives 40 percent or
more of gross annual income from the sale or
transfer of dogs.
 “Commercial kennel'' means any person, business,
corporation, or other entity that sells or transfers 10 or
more litters or 50 or more puppies in any 12-month
period.
Exemption?
RSA 437:7 Exception. – The license
provisions of this subdivision shall not
apply to breeders of dogs licensed under
the provisions of RSA 466:6; veterinarians;
owners and operators of horse riding
stables; and auctioneers, breeders or
keepers of farm livestock.
Does a license with the town exempt from
a license with the department?
Do towns have facility standards?
RSA 436:99-109
Requires rabies vaccination of dogs, cats,
and ferrets.
Requires reporting of vaccination to town
clerks.
Enforced through local animal control.
Intervention
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rabies vaccination
RSA 466 licensing
RSA 437 licensing
Education
Mental health options
Court options
Multifaceted
More information
• Community approaches,
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/pubs/An
gellReport.pdf
• Hoarding of Animals Research
Consortium,
http://www.tufts.edu/vet/hoarding/index.ht
ml
QUESTIONS